Dear Kat Stratford

I know you're probably pretty busy at Sarah Lawrence, getting your gender studies degree or starting an alt-rock band or studying political science, but I thought you might answer some questions for me. I'm a big fan of yours and I'm just starting out high school, and you had a pretty illustrious high school career, so I thought you'd be the person to ask.

Anyway, first of all, how did you find your crowd? At Padua High School, no one really liked you - hey, I'm not being rude here, I'm just being honest. But you still had Mandella and all the women at the Skunk to hang out with. How did you find them? I don't have the no-friends-at-school problem - we're kind of a nerd school - but I'd still like to know how you did it. Did you go to spoken-word events? Did you join a club? Did you just drive around looking bitter and blasting the Indigo Girls until people came up to you to talk? You probably have a whole network of indie musicians and feminist writers now who can get you involved in whatever arts scene you end up in. How did you make that happen? I have some artist and writer friends already, but I want to make sure I don't just float around on my own when I'm out of school. I need people to anchor me.

Besides the friends thing, I want to know how you decided which classes to take in high school. You're pretty studious, and I know you probably want to kill me now because you're a PUNK and PUNKS AREN'T STUDIOUS, but you are, so I'm assuming you took a lot of hard classes. Plus, you hated Padua, so you really, really wanted to go to college, so it follows that you probably took a lot of AP classes to get in. But the big thing is, is it really worth it to plan your entire teenage life just for getting from one place to the next? Where I live, high school is four years of waiting on a train platform for the College Express to arrive. Four years is a pretty long time to waste looking at the clock, though. How did you balance school with the rest of your life? Did you have a 'rest of your life'? Would you consider yourself the right person to ask about this?

And Joey! I have so many questions about Joey. When that sleazy scumbag dumped you, how were you able to convince yourself it wasn't your fault? I mean, obviously it wasn't, but I know a lot of people who would have blamed themselves. Is that how you got to be so centered and driven? Because you knew that if you didn't believe yourself, if you didn't believe in yourself, no one would? Also, why did you decide to start dating him in the first place? Anyone with eyes can see that he's pond weed.

Finally, well. I bet you kind of knew I was going to get to this. So here goes - are you and Patrick still together??? If you say no I will lock myself in my room and cry, but it's fine. I don't have any emotional investment in the answer to this question. I really don't.

Sincerely yours,
Abby

Footnotes

Footnotes

Oh my gosh, I forgot to put this in, but Kat is from Ten Things I Hate About You (1999) and she's played by the gorgeous and talented Julia Stiles.